Chapter 13 #3
“And now here I come barging into your life, requiring you to readjust again. I promise you will not be sorry, okay?”
“My darling, Gunner, you are the best thing that’s happened to me. I promise not to be a royal pain in the ass, okay?”
He laughed. “Back in the day, I kinda liked watching you pitch a fit. You were damn good at it.”
She gave him a look. “Daddy always said it comes with the hair. But my hair is not red, it’s auburn,” she added.
Gunner burst out laughing, and in that moment, the sound of his own laughter shattered the last brick in his wall.
* * *
Two hours later, the movie they’d chosen to watch was over, and Holly was asleep with her head in Gunner’s lap, safely secure beneath the gentle touch of his hand on her shoulder.
She woke up when he turned off the TV, and she sat up with a groan.
“Some hostess I am. I fell asleep on you,” she muttered.
“Girl, I did not come here just to be waited on. I came here because I love you. And if you’re in the right frame of mind, to also make love with you, and know what it’s like to sleep with you curled up behind my back.”
“I’m in that frame of mind, but I need to set the security alarm,” she said, then got up and quickly keyed in the code.
“Lights on or off downstairs?” he asked.
“There’s a nightlight at the foot of the stairs and one on the landing. They’ll come on when the lights above go out.”
“Perfect, just like you,” he said, then picked up his bag and followed her up.
“I’m going to wash up while you unpack,” she said. “You can hang your stuff in my closet or on that hook on the back of the door.”
“Thanks, darlin’,” he said and put his bag on the bed, then pulled out a pair of jeans and a shirt and was putting them on hangers when she came out of the bathroom.
Gunner had already kicked off his boots and was holding the bag with his shaving stuff in it when she walked out. His heart skipped, then pounded once so hard against his chest that he felt the thud. The only thing she was wearing was a smile.
“Uh…”
She waved her hand at him in an offhand manner. “I sleep in the nude. Take your time, sweetheart,” she said and began to turn back the bed.
Holy shit. Take my time? That might not be happening.
He headed for the bathroom with his toiletry bag and washed up and stripped in ten seconds flat.
When he came out of the bathroom, the lights were off and she was lying on the sheets with the covers at her feet, waiting.
He flipped off the bathroom light, leaving them bathed in the blue aura of her nightlight.
She turned to face him as he lay down beside her. Her skin was like silk, and the graceful curve of her neck fit perfectly into the palm of his hand.
“Your eyes are the color of bluebonnets.”
She brushed her thumb across his lower lip.
“When I was younger, I thought your eyes were dark because you were sad. Now when I see you, those dark eyes melt me where I stand. You are one big, beautiful man, Gunner Kingston.” And then she put the flat of her hand on his chest. “Your heartbeat is as sure and steady as you are.”
“The better to love you with,” he said and lowered his head.
Then his mouth was on her lips, then down to the hollow at the base of her throat, following the trail through the valley between her breasts.
Holly lost focus after his hand slipped between her legs, and then the room began to spin. When he moved over her, then inside her, she closed her eyes and went along for the ride.
Nerve endings were flashing and flaring, winding up the ache within her, dancing to the rhythm of the act of making love. One slow steady stroke after another, over and over without stopping, until finally the climax washed over them, and when it did the music stopped.
Gunner’s arms were tight around her, holding her until the drumbeat of their hearts began to fall back into normal rhythm, then he pulled the covers up over both of them and kissed her softly as he watched her eyes beginning to close.
“Love you,” she said.
“Love you more. Sweet dreams,” he said.
And the room went quiet.
Traffic was intermittent outside the townhouse apartment complex. The later it became, the less traffic passed by.
Gunner was sound asleep when he felt Holly stir, then mutter.
“Did I just dream it when you said you won the lottery?”
He grinned. “No. It’s real.”
She sighed. “Okay,” she mumbled and rolled over.
He rolled with her, tucking her into the curve of his body and closed his eyes, and didn’t know anything more until the alarm on her cell phone went off.
Holly mumbled beneath her breath and reached for the phone to shut it off.
“I wasn’t ready for that,” he heard her mumble, then opened his eyes just in time to see her and her naked backside as she walked into the bathroom.
He rolled over, waited for the sound of the shower to come on, and then got up, slipped into the shower with her, and changed her attitude altogether.
By the time they dressed, they had just enough time for toast and coffee before Holly had to leave for work.
Gunner kissed her cheek to keep from messing up her makeup.
“Light of my life, you look beautiful. Raise all the hell you need at work and have the best day. I’ll call you tonight.”
She was on the doorstep waving as he backed out and drove away, and then she grabbed her things, set the security alarm, and left on the run.
That morning shower had completely messed with her body clock and routine, but it was the best damn shower she’d ever had.